Bear With Me
by Zelofheda
Summary: A fanfic featuring Guy of Gisborne, Pudsey Bear, and Children in Need. Just for fun!


Bear With Me

A silly fic

It was strange to be back in Nottingham after almost a full year of travelling. Everything was completely the same as he'd left it, and yet completely different as well. Guy walked along the corridor to Marian's room – to the room that had once belonged to Marian, he corrected himself, and felt hot regret rise up inside him, threatening to stop his heart. If only he could open the door and see her once again. He'd fall on his knees at her feet, he'd offer his sword to her and beg her to run it through his chest.

Guy turned the handle and opened the door, then came in and stood there, letting the emptiness of the room smother his hopes. Marian wasn't here. She'd never be here again. The only thing left now were memories – and a yellow teddy bear peeking out from the covers of the bed. Guy crossed the room and yanked it out of its hiding place by its ear. What had Marian called it? Pudgy? No, Pudsey. A silly name for a silly toy, he'd thought at the time, and yet it didn't seem so silly now. He lifted the bear to his nose and sniffed it. Was it just his imagination, or did some of Marian's scent still cling to the fabric, even after all this time?

"Marian," he whispered, resting his cheek on the bear's head. Things could have been so different, if only he'd listened to her. If only he'd killed the Sheriff, as she'd asked. He'd had plenty of time to think about it on the journey home, to imagine himself plunging his sword into Vasey's heart and then freeing Marian from her chains. She would have taken him to King Richard then, and although Guy loathed that monarch, he would have swallowed his pride and accepted a reward from the king's hand, if only to see Marian's happy, shining eyes. They could have been married then; they could have returned to Nottingham together, hand in hand, and be entering this bedchamber as man and wife now.

Oh, why hadn't he taken that route? Guy squeezed the bear in anguish, wishing he could crush his own heart as easily as the toy. Why had he made the decision to cling stubbornly to the Sheriff's side? From that point on, it had all gone from bad to worse. He'd wanted power and had, at that time, been unable to see beyond the fact that Vasey had granted him a little and promised him a lot. On the way home, Guy had kicked himself repeatedly for not realizing that King Richard could have given him so much more.

A tear formed in one of his eyes, and as he used Pudsey's ear to blot it, Guy heard a scrabbling sound at the window. He turned to look, and nearly dropped the bear in surprise.

Hood was just climbing in, but then he stopped, as astonished to see Guy as Guy was to see him. Guy's first reaction was to reach for his sword, but then he stopped, his hand not yet touching the hilt. Perhaps he should just let Hood put an arrow through his heart and kill him. Hell couldn't be any worse than the torment he'd endured on the journey home – the torment he was still enduring.

"Aren't you going to fight, Gisborne?" Hood asked quietly. During Guy's hesitation, he had drawn his bow, and Guy looked at the arrow. At this range, it would be quick, mercifully quick. He shook his head. "No."

Hood grimaced. "Don't think you're going to get off that easily, Gisborne. I didn't come here to kill you, I just came for that."

Guy followed Hood's gaze down to his hand and was surprised to see that he was still clutching the bear. He straightened up and took a firmer grip on the toy.

"Not a chance, Hood," he sneered. "You'll have to kill me to get it."

"What, and ruin all my fun of watching you suffer for what you did?" Hood shot back. "I don't think so, Gisborne!"

"Guards!" Guy shouted, and took a step backwards in the direction of the door. Unfortunately, there was no answering clatter of armed men in the corridor. He took another step and shouted again, but still could not provoke Hood into releasing the arrow.

"Your men are busy," Hood said, but then he glanced over Guy's shoulder and his expression changed to one of surprise. "Sheriff!"

Guy glanced over his shoulder to see only the door, still closed. His gaze didn't make it back to Hood. The man crowed, "Made you look!" and slammed something into Guy's face, knocking him to the floor. Stunned, Guy was vaguely aware that Hood had hit him with the broadside of his bow and was reaching for the teddy, snatching it right out of his hand.

"Remember how Marian was the Nightwatchman?" Hood asked, dancing out of Guy's reach. "Remember how she used to help the poor, giving them money and food? She did it because she cared about them."

Guy sat up and glared at Hood. For lack of any other way to carry it and still keep his hands free for his bow, Hood had stuffed the bear up under his shirt, which, Guy thought, made him look like a pregnant woman. Instead of laughing, however, Guy sneered, "Maybe she cared, or maybe she only did it to spite the Sheriff."

Hood grinned in amusement. "Yeah, maybe that was part of it. Maybe that's one of the things I loved about her."

Any mention of love between Hood and Marian was enough to enrage Guy, wiping any thoughts of suicide from his mind. He jumped to his feet, reaching for his weapon. He'd skewer Hood just as easily as – but he didn't get the chance. Just as he'd freed his sword from its scabbard, Hood drew and shot, and the arrow knocked the sword out of Guy's hand and sent it clattering to the stone floor.

"Marian was the Nightwatchman for years," Hood said, drawing another arrow. "She always wanted to help others. Tell you what, Gisborne. If enough mony is donated to Children in Need, in memory of Marian, I'll let you have Pudsey back."

Guy stood where he was, not certain whether to believe Hood or not. Hood retreated a few steps in the direction of the window, and Guy made to follow. He was just about to risk an attack when Hood released the bowstring, sending the arrow just close enough to Guy's head to make him duck, and used the distraction to slide over the windowsill. The last thing Guy saw was his grinning face as it disappeared.

It didn't take very long for Guy to round up his men and some of the Sheriff's as well. He led his team into Locksley while sending others to the other nearby villages. Guy had given them clear instructions, and they worked fast, rounding up the villagers and separating them according to age. Anybody old enough to have a child was herded into an enclosure on the village green, while the offspring themselves were kept away from them. Guy took savage pleasure in tearing an infant from its mother's arm, ignoring her frantic screams, and thrusting it at one of the older children to hold. When they had emptied every house and rounded up anybody who tried to escape into the forest, Guy addressed the gaggle of boys and girls, instructing them to find their family's money and bring it, or lose their parents completely.

"Donate to Children in Need, or _become_ children in need!" he bellowed, and pandemonium broke loose, with the adults shouting instructions to the young ones as to where they could find a few hoarded pennies under the hearthstone, or begging them to offer anything of value to the guards. The money began to pile up in the coffer that Guy had thoughtfully provided for the purpose.

There was movement on the road from Locksley Manor, Guy's own house, and Guy glanced up in surprise to see one of his men driving a wagon towards the village green. He hadn't expected his men to return so early from the outlying villages, and strode over to investigate. With a silent gesture, the man indicated the heavy chest in the wagon, and Guy lifted the lid. The chest was almost full of money, and not just money, but silver coins in such values that no villager could ever afford even one. As he stared at the coins, wondering exactly where they'd come from, Guy became aware that the noise of the raid had faded to be replaced by a tense silence. He turned around.

Hood was there, pointing an arrow at him. Guy glanced around for his guards, but the vast majority of them had disappeared, and those that were left had been disarmed and were being held in check by the other members of Hood's gang.

"Let's see," Hood said, motioning for Guy to move away from the carriage. He stepped away, and watched as Hood approached close enough to see into the chest.

"Nice!" Hood exclaimed appreciatively, then teased, "We didn't expect such generosity, Gisborne."

"We had a deal, Hood," Guy said, indicating the chest and thinking that the phrase "pennies from Heaven" had never been more appropriate. "I'm giving you what you want, now you give me what I want."

"We did have a deal," Hood agreed, smiling in that smugly superior way that made Guy want to beat his head to a pulp. "But you're offering me too much, Gisborne, and I couldn't bear to cheat you." He emphasized the word "bear" just enough that Guy knew he was mocking him. "We'll take this chest, and the rest can go back where it came from."

Guy stood with his fists clenched and watched impotently as Hood and his outlaws let the peasants out of the enclosure, reuniting them not only with their children, but also with the money that Guy had just barely finished collecting. When the re-distribution of wealth was finally complete and all the villagers had gone home, literally singing Hood's praises in a melody that Guy was certain would haunt him for the rest of his life, Hood turned to Guy.

"You're bearing up remarkably well, Gisborne," he said with a grin, lowing his bow and making a summoning motion with one hand. The tallest outlaw, the one they called Little John, came out from behind one of the buildings with a sack slung over his shoulder. To Guy's surprise, a little girl was following him, but she went by and called out to friends, "Look what I found!"

She was brandishing the yellow teddy bear, obviously meaning to show it to her parents or friends. Astounded, John glanced into his sack, but Guy didn't wait for his confirmation that it was empty. He dashed after the girl and pulled Pudsey from her waving arms, ignoring her cry of outrage and the tears that followed. Holding the bear by one arm, Guy marched in the direction of his house, determined to put Pudsey away in a safe place where nobody would ever be able to steal him again.

He entered his bedroom and went around the bed to the alcove where he kept his weapons, armour, and money. The curtain had been pulled back, as though the servants had been dusting there again, and Guy had a perfect view of the strongbox. It was secure, Guy thought, and there'd be plenty of room for Pudsey there on top of the coins. Then he opened the lid, and stopped.

There were no coins. With growing fury, Guy searched the rest of the alcove, flipping everything over and checking every possible hiding place. They weren't there. They weren't anywhere. There were no coins in the room at all, and Guy would bet that they were nowhere in the house, either. That chest of coins that he'd just offered to Robin Hood – that had been his own money! In a fit of temper, Guy threw Pudsey across the room, only realizing too late that the shutters of the window were wide open. The bear sailed through and disappeared outside. With a great, inarticulate bellow of rage and pain, Guy rushed to the window.

Pudsey lay in the dirt near the house. One of the servant girls who had been getting water from the well stood there, glancing up to see from where the bear had fallen and no doubt wondering if any more were about to follow. As soon as she saw Guy, however, her confused expression turned to one of fear and she scurried away, slopping water as she went. Guy raced down the stairs and out the door, and scooped Pudsey up from the ground.

He was brushing the bear off when there was a familiar zinging sound, and suddenly, there was an arrow protruding from Pudsey's tummy, just where his hand had been a moment before. Startled and even more enraged at this damage, Guy glanced up. Of course it was Hood. It could only be Hood.

"Come to take this, too, Hood?" Guy demanded, brandishing the toy at a safe distance from his body in case Hood wanted to shoot it again.

"No," Hood said, lowering his bow. "I did what I came for, and don't say we didn't keep our end of the bargain. You donated to Children in Need and we left you with the bare necessities."

Grinning, he turned and jogged away. Guy dropped Pudsey, arrow and all, and ran in pursuit, drawing his sword as he went. But one of the outlaws was not far away, sitting on a horse, and before Guy could reach them, he had pulled Hood up to sit behind him in the saddle and they had galloped away. Chagrined, Guy came to a stop, then went back and picked the bear up a second time. When he pulled the arrow out, some of Pudsey's fluffy insides came with it; he threw the arrow away and used one finger to tuck the wispy strands back in. Unfortunately, the fabric ripped and the hole became bigger.

He found his servants in the kitchen, and thrust Pudsey at the woman who did all the sewing and darning for the household. "Sew this up, and be quick about it!"

"Oh, my lord, that looks just like the bear Lady Marian had," she exclaimed, surveying the damage.

"That _is_ the bear that Lady Marian had," Guy corrected her.

"No, my lord, I don't think so," the servant replied. "Marian's Pudsey almost had its left arm twisted off once, she asked me to sew it up for her because, she said, my stitches were much more fine than hers. She said her needles were thick and blunt, and made her stiches look like drunken ants meandering across the cloth. But look, my lord, you can see this one's never been ripped."

She showed Guy the original seam around the bear's arm, then flinched back as Guy roared, "Hood!"

But Hood was long gone, no doubt cuddling Marian's bear in his outlaw camp and gloating over how he'd managed to make Guy's life _unbearable_, yet again.


End file.
